A New Venture
by OpiWrites
Summary: Artemis Fowl, recently back from the time stream, is now burdened by 2 brothers and the task of masking his disappearance. Reduced to surfing the web, he discovers some interesting news that was never looked into. Until now. This fanfiction happens shortly after the events of 'The Lost Colony' by Eoin Colfer. It is taking place Post-Hogwarts, before Next Gen.
1. New Venture, An Intro

**April 26, 2006**

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><p>Waking up on April 25th of 2006, Artemis Fowl, for one of the first times in his life did not want to leave bed. He was exhausted by playing with the twin brothers that he had only just found out he had. Coming back from the time stream three years after he had entered it, his world had changed drastically. Using his ill-begotten magic to <em>mesmerize<em> parents into not questioning his whereabouts for the last three years, he was now tasked with taking care of his new brothers and being what seemed to be a normal boy. Artemis was bored out of his mind. The most exciting activities recently had been making Myles 'Dr. Primate', a doll that would talk back to him and praise him for his genius. He was reduced to searching the web in his free time, a considerable step down from saving the world. Now he knew what Holly had felt when she had left the LEP for becoming a private eye.

During his nightly online searches, he came across news reports of mass deaths in Europe. People found dead in their homes, no real explanation for it. Gasses in the house were normal, and there were no internal or external damages. The deaths had been extremely prominent in 1997 and 1998 but had come to a near standstill after May 2nd of 1998. For most people, it was a strange story, now nothing more than a folk tale. But Artemis knew better. Artemis knew that there were often hidden explanations for many things. He knew enough about that from his many encounters with fairies./p

Artemis, intrigued by these deaths, did a little digging. Around the same time the killings stopped, sightings of strange people wearing long robes began to appear across Europe. These spread the entire world, but were centered around the European Union. All sightings seemed to have the strange people celebrating something. Artemis(This being a day of many firsts) was confused about how something was so big that people around the world celebrated it, but no one had ever heard of the event. Other than these people, of course.

The first thing that came to Artemis' mind was a cult. A cult that was a prime suspect for the killings(As Artemis now imagined them). What were they celebrating, and why were the killings stopped then? Had the cult reached a number of 'sacrifices' to a deranged god? Or was the person or persons actually behind the murders stopped by their own cult, causing a celebration and reduction in killings? There were many possible explanations, but none explained the fact that not one news station had carried any story of this cult. Even these explanations were based on the fact that a cult was behind this. What if there were no cult at all? There was only one way to narrow down the answers. Artemis called Holly.


	2. The Pub

"You're saying there were mass deaths and NO ONE investigated it? Humans are too nosy by nature for me to believe that." Holly remarked skeptically after Artemis was done talking. "I know, but if anyone ever got any answers, there was no report of it." Artemis replied, pacing his office. It was reminiscent of the office before the siege, each monitor showing a different channel, waiting for breaking news. Artemis Fowl Senior had left Artemis Junior the office, saying that Artemis "Would probably make more use of it than I could". As it turns out, he was right.

The line had been silent for a while, each party lost in their own thoughts. "I'm sure there was hysteria right? People can't just die in their homes without causing others to panic." Holly said. "Of course there was hysteria, but once it stopped, everything calmed quickly." Artemis replied. "How long ago was this?" Holly asked, about to re;ay the information to Foaly. "Eight years ago, in 1998." Artemis answered, to Holly's interest. "It took this long for you to notice this?" Holly asked, amused. "I was preoccupied with my own problems at the time, as you well know." Artemis scolded. Holly laughed and said with a playful tone "Like kidnapping me?" "I thought you had gotten over that" Artemis replied, smiling slightly. "I have, anyways, I've just sent Foaly the related information. He should get back to us soon." Holly said. "I await that eagerly." Artemis said, terminating the call. Holly looked at her communicator -three years advanced from the last one- and shook her head, a great smile breaking out on face. Another adventure, after the last few boring weeks? Yes please.

Artemis sat in the great leather armchair, breathing a heavy sigh. He was excited for this new investigation, but had no patience left. He had used nearly all of it for the past three weeks, doing next to nothing important. He sat, and waited for Foaly's answers to come in. It wouldn't take long.

After three hours, Artemis had given up hope of a quick answer, and now sat meditating in the dojo. It wasn't long before Butler entered, and saw Artemis there. "Oh, I'm sorry Artemis, I had no idea you meditated here now." he said, apologetic to his young master. "There's nothing to be sorry about Butler" Artemis said, without moving. "I've been experimenting with new surroundings while meditating, there was no sensible way you should have known." Butler sighed, relieved that he would not be blamed for his rude intrusion. In a moment, he was back to his normal, formal self. "What are you doing meditating anyways? I never knew you to meditate without something to think about." Butler said. "Of course I have something on my mind Butler," Artemis said while smiling slightly. Butler shuddered slightly at the sight. He knew that smile. "Did you ever hear of mass deaths in Europe during the year 1998?" Butler quickly racked his mind, and came up with something. "I heard something about it, but nothing after that year." Butler replied, uneasy. "Of course you didn't. They stopped after 1998 and no one ever looked into them. The deaths were unexplainable, people found dead in their homes, no signs of internal or external damage." Artemis said, his words becoming heated as the mystery taunted his inability to find the answers. "Artemis, are you all right?" Butler asked, concerned for his charge. Artemis was almost never like this. "Of course Butler," Artemis replied, quickly returning to his normal, clipped tones.

While leaving the dojo, Butler posed a few more questions, yet he doubted that Artemis had forgotten about them. "Were the gasses in the room abnormal? What was in the victims' blood?" Artemis answered these quickly, explaining that gasses were normal and other than a select few drunkards, blood composition of all the victims had not been abnormal. Suddenly, Artemis felt a vibration on his right ring finger. The communicator! Artemis quickly answered and heard a voice. Holly's voice. "Hey Artemis, sorry about the wait. Unfortunately, Foaly wasn't able to find anything on the deaths." Artemis' shoulders sagged. He had hoped for a good answer. "But we were able to find out where we might be able to find out more about this. Artemis' pulse quickened, his interest whetted again. "Where?" he asked, almost hungrily. "The strange people you mentioned, that were celebrating? Sightings suggest that they originated from Charing Cross Road, London." Holly answered. "Butler, let's get to the private jet, we have some work to do!"

Touching down in London, Artemis was having a heated argument with Holly. "I'm coming with you!"

"You are not! Who knows what kind of people these are! They are not like Butler and I, you might get hurt!"

"Since when has that stopped me from doing anything Artemis?"

"Fine, you can come, but only AFTER we check the place out."

"I have a shield Artemis."

Artemis gritted his teeth. He didn't like this. "Fine." "Thank you," Holly said, having won the argument. Butler chuckled beside him and said "Since when are you this worried about Holly?" Artemis glanced his way and said "Ever since I thought they could kill a person with no marks and no struggle. How long do you think it would take to kill a fairy?" Butler said nothing, deep in thought.

Arriving at Charing Cross Road, Artemis observed the street. Seeing a shimmer across the road, he gestured for Holly to join them. The shimmer came closer, and eventually Holly dropped into sight, right next to Artemis. "Look for anything strange," Artemis said, observing the entire street while looking to be absorbed in a magazine. After an hour he saw the trend. He mentioned Holly closer. "Do you see that pub, the third building across the street?" Holly nodded, turning to see the pub in question. "No one has gone in there, except for a select few. I didn't find that strange, until I realized that every single one had some oddity about their dress wear. Something that no sensible person would ever put on." Holly watched a conveniently timed man walk into the pub, and realized that only half his shirt was tucked in, forming a duck tail in the back. "Now that you mention it, yes, that's true." "Looks like that pub is our target." Artemis said, and started walking across the street, towards the pub.


End file.
